Backstory: Arthur Inkwell was born and raised within the city of Ul’dah. His mother, a native of the neighboring forest nation of the Black Shroud, had come to the city about five years prior, in the wake of the death of her first husband, bringing her then-5-year-old son, Morgan, in tow. In her first year in the city, she met and befriended Hector Inkwell, the caretaker of the city’s libraries, and more private archives. The two eventually fell in love and married, bringing Arthur into the world.
Arthur’s home life was largely one of love and support. He even found a best friend in his elder half-brother, though the two of them were as different as night and day. Morgan was always a fighter, and learned to wield a sword as soon as he was able to lift one. He was fascinated by military history and the life of the soldier, and took up with the Immortal Flames once he was old enough. Arthur, on the other hand, was content to spend his days in his father’s libraries and archives, nose constantly buried in a book. Where Morgan was a natural charmer, Arthur struggled to be noticed and taken seriously. Yet, they always had each other’s backs.
At some point, Morgan made it his mission to teach his oft-bullied younger brother to stand up for himself. He began dragging poor Arthur out of bed at ungodly early to put him through combat lessons. Arthur was not a fan of these lessons at all, though some of Morgan’s teachings stuck with him regardless. Even so, Morgan eventually gave it up for lost, allowing Arthur to once again enjoy a few extra hours of sleep. Instead, he prompted Arthur to use his brains instead of his brawn to stand up for himself, and this was something of a turning point for Arthur. He began to hone his wit, wielding it in place of a blade. Surprisingly enough, the bullying began to stop.
It was also Morgan who introduced Arthur to his biggest passion, the history and magic of Nym. Hundreds of years ago, Nym was a thriving city, but it had been destroyed by an ancient war between rival nations of mages, known as the War of the Magi. Nym relied heavily on their scholars to guide their military. Nymian scholars were more than just learned men and women, they were strategists and healers, who commanded faerie companions to aid them in battle.
From a young age, Arthur had exhibited some talent with magic, and was more or less a self-taught Arcanist of decent skill by the time he was a teenager. When his brother mentioned there had once been a nation of magically-inclined military strategists and healers, the idea instantly captured Arthur’s imagination. He threw himself into the pursuit of the magic of the Nymian scholars, digging up everything he could find, even going so far as to poke around the more restricted sections of his family’s archives. By the time he entered his twenties, Arthur had a basic grasp of the craft, though he had no faerie to call his own, never managing to summon anything more complex than a carbuncle.
At the oh-so-tender age of twenty-six, Arthur had barely set foot out of the city walls, and would have happily spent the rest of his days pouring over books if not for the fact that his family intervened. His parents and brother wanted much more for him than a life surrounded by dusty tomes. No amount of prompting seemed to sway Arthur, however, so they handed him a simple task: He was to deliver a set of rare books to a researcher and old family friend of the Inkwells, currently taking up residence in the neighboring nation of La Noscea. Without being given much of a chance to argue, he was sent on his way.
However, his trip quickly took a turn for the worst. After taking directions from a “friendly merchant” who turned out to be anything but, Arthur found him lost a series of caves, and he stumbled right into a pirate’s lair. Terrified, Arthur tried to flee, but one wrong turn landed him in a dead end, cornered by his pursuers. Salvation came in the form of Tessa Willow, a miqo’te adventurer who had been investigating the caves herself. Together they fled the pirates, but in the midst of the chaos, Arthur lost the books he had been charged with delivering.
From that point, the two of them entered into a deal. Arthur was indebted to Tessa for saving his life, and she in turn indebted to him for the loss of the books. They decided to travel together until their respective debts were paid, but in truth, it was the start of a partnership that would become so much more than that.
A couple months into their arrangement, Arthur was able to convince Tessa to join him on an expedition to some old ruins. Now that he was out in the world, he was realizing there was so much more he could learn by seeing things himself than just simply reading about them. For the most part, their little expedition was much less dangerous than their usual adventures, until Arthur unwittingly trigged a trap door in the floor. The two of them plummeted into the room below, falling unconscious, and Arthur woke to a glimpse of soft light and fluttering wings— a glimpse that quickly vanished. Surprisingly, neither of them were seriously injured from the fall.
As they were trying to find their way out, Arthur discovered an old scholar soul stone among the rubble. A soul stone (or soul crystal. The terms seem to be interchangeable) is a crystal that contains the memories of all those who had used it before, usually pertaining to their craft of choice, whether that be magic or other combat skills. In the case of the Nymian scholars, soul stones were usually family heirlooms, and not only contained their knowledge, but their faerie companion as well. Though Arthur had managed to learn a fair bit of the Nymians’ magic without a soul stone of his own, he wasn’t stupid enough to leave it behind, however he was unaware of the presence of the faerie inside the stone, as she refused to show herself at the start. Arthur and Tessa’s presence had woken her up, and she had saved them after their fall, but after that she kept to the stone.
The faerie observed Arthur from her place in the stone for a long time. She had spent a long time sleeping in those ruins, and wanted to be certain that her new partner was worth the effort. Eventually, something about Arthur seemed to strike a chord with her, because his kindness was apparent even in the face of his sharp tongue and dry sense of humor. She finally revealed herself to him, sharing that her name was Clover. With Clover’s help, and the help of the memories kept in the soul stone, Arthur quickly came to hone his skills as a scholar.
Even with his healing abilities and the few offensive spells he knew, Arthur still felt as if he didn’t quite pull his weight when compared to Tessa, who held a measure of skill with just about every weapon under the sun. The miqo’te eventually suggested to him that they travel to Ishgard, since she’d heard tales of the machinists there. It seemed right up Arthur’s alley, considering his fondness for machines and learning how things worked. The folks at the Skysteel Manufactory were more than happy to put a gun in his hands, but learning how to use it was another matter entirely.
Thankfully, Tessa was always dragging him off to fight some monster or other.
It is worth noting that Arthur is not a Warrior of Light. He is sort of periphery to the events of the game’s main storyline, and just trails along in the wake of the Warriors of Light without ever getting all that close. For instance, he and Tessa go to Ishgard after the WoLs help them reopen their borders and rejoin the Eorzean Alliance. He knows of the Warriors of Light and their deeds, because who doesn’t, though he wouldn’t know one by face or name if he met them. The closest he gets is his brother, as a Flame Lieutenant, heads over the border into Ala Mhigo with the main force for the duration of the Stormblood story, and maybe might have once fought alongside the WoLs in some battle or other.
arthur inkwell | original (ffxiv)
Character: Arthur Inkwell
Age: 27
OC Type: MMO (Final Fantasy XIV)
Point Taken: Post-Stormblood MSQ
World Building: Some light reading for you.
Backstory: Arthur Inkwell was born and raised within the city of Ul’dah. His mother, a native of the neighboring forest nation of the Black Shroud, had come to the city about five years prior, in the wake of the death of her first husband, bringing her then-5-year-old son, Morgan, in tow. In her first year in the city, she met and befriended Hector Inkwell, the caretaker of the city’s libraries, and more private archives. The two eventually fell in love and married, bringing Arthur into the world.
Arthur’s home life was largely one of love and support. He even found a best friend in his elder half-brother, though the two of them were as different as night and day. Morgan was always a fighter, and learned to wield a sword as soon as he was able to lift one. He was fascinated by military history and the life of the soldier, and took up with the Immortal Flames once he was old enough. Arthur, on the other hand, was content to spend his days in his father’s libraries and archives, nose constantly buried in a book. Where Morgan was a natural charmer, Arthur struggled to be noticed and taken seriously. Yet, they always had each other’s backs.
At some point, Morgan made it his mission to teach his oft-bullied younger brother to stand up for himself. He began dragging poor Arthur out of bed at ungodly early to put him through combat lessons. Arthur was not a fan of these lessons at all, though some of Morgan’s teachings stuck with him regardless. Even so, Morgan eventually gave it up for lost, allowing Arthur to once again enjoy a few extra hours of sleep. Instead, he prompted Arthur to use his brains instead of his brawn to stand up for himself, and this was something of a turning point for Arthur. He began to hone his wit, wielding it in place of a blade. Surprisingly enough, the bullying began to stop.
It was also Morgan who introduced Arthur to his biggest passion, the history and magic of Nym. Hundreds of years ago, Nym was a thriving city, but it had been destroyed by an ancient war between rival nations of mages, known as the War of the Magi. Nym relied heavily on their scholars to guide their military. Nymian scholars were more than just learned men and women, they were strategists and healers, who commanded faerie companions to aid them in battle.
From a young age, Arthur had exhibited some talent with magic, and was more or less a self-taught Arcanist of decent skill by the time he was a teenager. When his brother mentioned there had once been a nation of magically-inclined military strategists and healers, the idea instantly captured Arthur’s imagination. He threw himself into the pursuit of the magic of the Nymian scholars, digging up everything he could find, even going so far as to poke around the more restricted sections of his family’s archives. By the time he entered his twenties, Arthur had a basic grasp of the craft, though he had no faerie to call his own, never managing to summon anything more complex than a carbuncle.
At the oh-so-tender age of twenty-six, Arthur had barely set foot out of the city walls, and would have happily spent the rest of his days pouring over books if not for the fact that his family intervened. His parents and brother wanted much more for him than a life surrounded by dusty tomes. No amount of prompting seemed to sway Arthur, however, so they handed him a simple task: He was to deliver a set of rare books to a researcher and old family friend of the Inkwells, currently taking up residence in the neighboring nation of La Noscea. Without being given much of a chance to argue, he was sent on his way.
However, his trip quickly took a turn for the worst. After taking directions from a “friendly merchant” who turned out to be anything but, Arthur found him lost a series of caves, and he stumbled right into a pirate’s lair. Terrified, Arthur tried to flee, but one wrong turn landed him in a dead end, cornered by his pursuers. Salvation came in the form of Tessa Willow, a miqo’te adventurer who had been investigating the caves herself. Together they fled the pirates, but in the midst of the chaos, Arthur lost the books he had been charged with delivering.
From that point, the two of them entered into a deal. Arthur was indebted to Tessa for saving his life, and she in turn indebted to him for the loss of the books. They decided to travel together until their respective debts were paid, but in truth, it was the start of a partnership that would become so much more than that.
A couple months into their arrangement, Arthur was able to convince Tessa to join him on an expedition to some old ruins. Now that he was out in the world, he was realizing there was so much more he could learn by seeing things himself than just simply reading about them. For the most part, their little expedition was much less dangerous than their usual adventures, until Arthur unwittingly trigged a trap door in the floor. The two of them plummeted into the room below, falling unconscious, and Arthur woke to a glimpse of soft light and fluttering wings— a glimpse that quickly vanished. Surprisingly, neither of them were seriously injured from the fall.
As they were trying to find their way out, Arthur discovered an old scholar soul stone among the rubble. A soul stone (or soul crystal. The terms seem to be interchangeable) is a crystal that contains the memories of all those who had used it before, usually pertaining to their craft of choice, whether that be magic or other combat skills. In the case of the Nymian scholars, soul stones were usually family heirlooms, and not only contained their knowledge, but their faerie companion as well. Though Arthur had managed to learn a fair bit of the Nymians’ magic without a soul stone of his own, he wasn’t stupid enough to leave it behind, however he was unaware of the presence of the faerie inside the stone, as she refused to show herself at the start. Arthur and Tessa’s presence had woken her up, and she had saved them after their fall, but after that she kept to the stone.
The faerie observed Arthur from her place in the stone for a long time. She had spent a long time sleeping in those ruins, and wanted to be certain that her new partner was worth the effort. Eventually, something about Arthur seemed to strike a chord with her, because his kindness was apparent even in the face of his sharp tongue and dry sense of humor. She finally revealed herself to him, sharing that her name was Clover. With Clover’s help, and the help of the memories kept in the soul stone, Arthur quickly came to hone his skills as a scholar.
Even with his healing abilities and the few offensive spells he knew, Arthur still felt as if he didn’t quite pull his weight when compared to Tessa, who held a measure of skill with just about every weapon under the sun. The miqo’te eventually suggested to him that they travel to Ishgard, since she’d heard tales of the machinists there. It seemed right up Arthur’s alley, considering his fondness for machines and learning how things worked. The folks at the Skysteel Manufactory were more than happy to put a gun in his hands, but learning how to use it was another matter entirely.
Thankfully, Tessa was always dragging him off to fight some monster or other.
It is worth noting that Arthur is not a Warrior of Light. He is sort of periphery to the events of the game’s main storyline, and just trails along in the wake of the Warriors of Light without ever getting all that close. For instance, he and Tessa go to Ishgard after the WoLs help them reopen their borders and rejoin the Eorzean Alliance. He knows of the Warriors of Light and their deeds, because who doesn’t, though he wouldn’t know one by face or name if he met them. The closest he gets is his brother, as a Flame Lieutenant, heads over the border into Ala Mhigo with the main force for the duration of the Stormblood story, and maybe might have once fought alongside the WoLs in some battle or other.